In many regions air conditioning accounts for close to half the residential electrical power consumption during peak demand summer periods, which is to say during the hottest afternoon and evening hours. Utilities frequently offer reduced rates during off-peak periods to encourage economical demand shifts but no residential appliances are known to be available for storing coolness to be drawn upon later when air conditioning is required. For winter heat storage hot brick radiators for residential use are available which are capable of storing heat during off-peak periods for subsequent use during high-load cycles, but comparable equipment has not been developed for cooling residential air spaces.
Coolness storage has long been practiced for purposes other than residential air conditioning. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,621 discloses an ice bank in which a relatively small condensor-compressor builds ice to be melted later in water to cool beverages. It is not concerned with cooling of air or with residential air conditioning. U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,569 teaches an air conditioning system wherein winter cold is utilized to freeze ice in underground chambers and thereafter during hot summer conditions that coolness is transferred by a circulating heat exchange liquid to an air conditioning duct where it is used to cool warm air entering a building. It is not concerned with an appliance for peak shaving of electrical loads on the basis of daily cycles.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a portable air conditioning appliance wherein a condensor-compressor of limited capacity powered by 110 volt household electricity operates a refrigeration system which is small enough to discharge heat into an interior residential air space, thus storing coolness in the form of ice which can be utilized later to cool air in the residential air space.